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Posts Tagged ‘Easy’

Thai Red Curry with Prawns

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , , , on 5 September 2018| 1 Comment »

Thai red curry with prawns

An easy prawn curry with lots of veg.

Wine Suggestion: we’d actually suggest a red wine to match this dish, despite it being seafood. Our choice is a young, fruity reds with lower tannin like the Paria Grenache made by Domaine Ventenac from the Languedoc, or a lightly chilled Paco Garcia Rioja Seis. A hint of tannin and joyful fruit and juiciness with a lighter body … not too much weight for this dish even if the wines have good length.

Easy Thai Red Curry with Prawns – serves 6

  • 4 tbsp Thai red curry paste
  • 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
  • 250ml whole milk
  • 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 300g butternut squash, peeled and cubed
  • 150g green beans
  • 12 button mushrooms, halved
  • 400g raw peeled prawns
  • fish sauce
  • coriander and steamed jasmine rice to serve

Heat a splash of oil in a large pan and fry the curry paste for a minute or until fragrant. Stir in the coconut milk and milk and bring to a simmer.

Add the potato and squash cubes and cook until almost tender, then add the green beans and mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the prawns, simmer until cooked through and season with the fish sauce.

Serve with steamed rice and some chopped coriander.

(Original recipe from BBC Olive Magazine, November 2011.)

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Roasted Feta

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 3 September 2018| Leave a Comment »

Roasted Feta

This is a bit of a cheat’s starter that uses a block of feta cheese and packs of chargrilled vegetable antipasti. Delicious served warm from the oven with pitta bread.

Wine Suggestion: If you can find it, open a Greek white, our favourite being made with the Assyrtiko grape from the island of Santorini. The best are bone-dry, in-your-face, crisp, mineral-laden, high-acid wonders.

Roasted Feta – serves 4 as a starter

  • 2 x 185g pack chargrilled vegetable antipasti (we used jars of roasted artichokes, olives & mixed peppers which worked well – a roughly similar weight will be fine)
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 200g feta
  • pittas or mini pittas to serve

Tip the antipasti and its oil into a roasting tin, squeeze over the lemon juice and put the block of feta in the middle of the tin. Season with black pepper and drizzle over an extra bit of olive oil.

Bake in the oven at 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 for about 25 minutes.

Toast the pittas for a minute or two until warmed through. Scatter the lemon zest over the feta and serve with the warm pitta bread.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Blistered Peppers, Pomodorini, Mozzarella & Pesto

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Healthy, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 2 September 2018| Leave a Comment »

Blistered peppers, pomodorini, mozzarella & pesto

Flavours of late summer and something different to use up fresh pesto. We loved this dish, so light but really tasty. Serve with salad and bread.

Wine Suggestion: We’d suggest a juicy Tempranillo with a touch of oak, like the Paco Garcia Rioja Seis; a modern style that doesn’t need food unlike some other Rioja wines. Very happily served alongside a dish like this.

Blistered peppers, pomodorini, torn mozzarella & pesto – serves 2

  • 2 large red peppers
  • 12 pomodorini or baby plum tomatoes
  • 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1  ball of buffalo mozzarella, torn into chunks
  • 4 tbsp fresh pesto

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.

Cut the peppers in half lengthways, remove the seeds and rub all over with a little olive oil and seasoning.

Toss the tomatoes with some olive oil, seasoning and the garlic .

Heat a heavy oven-proof pan until hot. Put the peppers, cut-side down, into the pan and sear until blackened along the edges. Turn them over and add the tomatoes to the pan, then roast in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Put the tomatoes inside the peppers along with the chunks of mozzarella. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil, then return to the oven until the mozzarella has started to melt. Put a tablespoon of pesto on each stuffed pepper before serving.

Serve with salad and bread.

(Original recipe by Alastair Hendy in Olive Magazine, August 2014.)

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Tomato & Olive Salad with za’atar & Buttermilk Dressing

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 31 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Tomato & Olive Salad

Fabulous flavours in this easy summer salad by Sabrina Ghayour. Great with barbecues – there’s still time before the cold evenings arrive.

Tomato & Olive Salad with Za’atar &  Buttermilk Dressing – serves 6 to 8

  • 800g mixed tomatoes
  • 250g pitted mixed olives
  • 15g chives, snipped
  • 200ml buttermilk
  • olive oil (Sabrina suggests a flavoured one like garlic or lemon)
  • 2 tbsp za’atar

Slice the tomatoes horizontally into 1cm-thick slices and arrange on a large platter. Spread the olives around the plate and scatter over half of the chives. Season generously with good sea salt and black pepper.

Season the buttermilk well with salt and a good slug of olive oil, the drizzle this over the salad. Scatter over the remaining chives and sprinkle over the za’atar. Serve right away.

(Original recipe from ‘Feasts’ by Sabrina Ghayour, Mitchell Beazley, 2017.)

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Badargani – Aubergine Rolls Filled with Pomegranate & Walnuts

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 30 August 2018| 1 Comment »

Badargani

Honey & co strikes again with a great veggie Sunday supper and fab left-overs for lunch-boxes on Monday. They suggest serving with yoghurt and green salad – we had some steamed rice too.

Wine Suggestion: a conundrum in matching this with the slight bitterness from the walnuts, the earthy, smoky, velvety aubergine and the sweet-sour-crunchy pomegranates. In the end we went with the Chapelle en Rosé from Chateau St. Jacques d’Albas in Minervois which was red-fruited, sappy and minerally dry. If you can’t find this then open a dry rosé made in the style of Provence.

Badargani – Aubergine rolls filled with walnuts & pomegranate – serves 4

  • 4 large aubergines, trimmed
  • olive oil

FOR THE FILLING:

  • 1 large red onion, diced finely
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 100g toasted walnuts, roughly chopped (keep 2 tbsp for garnish)
  • 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 5 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled & grated
  • 15-20g parsley, chopped
  • 100g fresh pomegranate seeds (keep 2 tbsp for garnish)
  • a pinch of cayenne pepper

Heat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas Mark 7.

Slice each aubergine into 5 or 6 slices lengthways. Keep the outside slices for the filling and the long inner slices for the rolls. Brush a couple of baking trays with oil and lay the inside aubergines slices flat on them. Drizzle with more oil and season with salt and black pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until golden and soft, turn the trays around mid-way to make sure they cook evenly. Set aside to cool.

Cut the aubergine trimmings into small dice (similar to the onion). Fry the onion in the olive oil over a medium heat until starting to soften, then add the diced aubergine and salt. Cook until the aubergine goes very soft. Take the pan off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and season again if needed.

Put a large spoon of filling at the end of each aubergine slice and roll into thick sausages. Put the filled rolls into an ovenproof serving dish. Spoon any leftover filling around the edges. Put into the oven for 5 minutes to warm through before serving.

Sprinkle the rolls with the reserved walnuts and pomegranate seeds. Serve about 3 rolls per person with a dressed green salad, some yoghurt and steamed rice.

(Original recipe from ‘Honey & Co. Food from the Middle East’ by Sarit Packer & Itamer Srulovich, Saltyard Books, 2014.)

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Strawberry and Buttermilk Ice Cream

Posted in Dessert, Food, Gluten-free, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 27 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Strawberry and buttermilk icecream

We’re getting late in the strawberry season, so they’re both cheaper and have great flavour. This is an easy ice cream by Diana Henry with a texture similar to sorbet. Great on its own but we also loved this with some rich chocolate truffle ice cream laced with rum.

Strawberry & Buttermilk Ice Cream – makes 1 litre

  • 500g strawberries
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
  • 375ml buttermilk
  • 115g sour cream
  • pinch of sea salt flakes

Remove the green tops from the strawberries, then slice and put into a bowl with half the sugar and the seeds from the vanilla pod. Leave to sit for half an hour.

Pour the fruit and all its juice into a food processor with the remaining sugar and whizz to a purée. Push the purée through a nylon sieve to remove the strawberry seeds. Mix with buttermilk, sour cream & salt.

If you have an ice cream machine you can churn in that or alternatively transfer to a shallow container and put straight into the freezer. You will need to churn it manually by putting back into the food processor after an hour, then twice more at 2 hour intervals. The ice cream must be covered with a lid or cling film in between churning and when you store it.

Remove the ice cream from the freezer about 10 minutes before serving to allow soften a bit.

(Original recipe from How to Eat a Peach by Diana Henry, Mitchell Beazley, 2018.)

 

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Tortellini with Creamy Tomato & Mascarpone Sauce

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 22 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Creamy marscapone tortellini

Because we had leftover marscapone … we love using leftover ingredients. It’s ok to cheat sometimes with some shop-bought fresh tortellini and the result is dinner in minutes!

Wine Suggestion: this works with young, fresh red wines. If you feel like Italian then the Rocca delle Macie Chianti Vernaiolo which is unoaked and vibrantly full of fruit is a good choice. We, however, threw a Pike & Joyce Rapide (unoaked) Pinot Noir from the Adelaide Hills into the fridge for 30 minutes. A good match too.

Tortellini with Creamy Tomato & Mascarpone Sauce – serves 2-4

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp vegetable stock powder (we never are without Marigold Swiss Bouillon) or ½ cumbled stock cube
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • few basil leaves
  • 2 tbsp mascarpone plus a bit extra
  • fresh tortellni – we used spinach & ricotta

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic and gently fry for 1 minute. Add the tin of tomatoes, the stock powder, tomato purée and sugar, then bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Tear in the basil leaves and stir in the 2 tbsp of mascarpone.

Meanwhile, cook the tortellini in boiling salted water as per the timing on the pack, then drain well and tip into a small ovenproof dish.

Pour the sauce over the tortellini and top with a few more spoonfuls of mascarpone, then bake until bubbling at the edges.

(Original recipe by Gareth Morgans IN: BBC Good Food Magazine, August 2008.)

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Orzo & Tomato Salad with Capers & Kalamata Olives

Posted in Food, Party Food, Pasta, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 20 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Orzo & tomato salad

A characterful and bright salad that tastes great with barbecued lamb. Easily halved.

Orzo & Tomato Salad with Capers & Kalamata Olives – serves 6 to 8

  • 350g orzo pasta
  • 2 x 290g deli packs of sunblush tomatoes, drained & cut into strips – reserve the oil
  • 400g green beans, trimmed & halved
  • 200g pitted Kalamata olives, roughly halved
  • 50g flat-leaf parsley, leaves and stems finely chopped
  • 400g feta cheese, crumbled into small chunks
  • 100g pine nuts
  • 240g capers in brine, drained

Cook the orzo according to the pack. Rinse well in cold water and leave to drain in a sieve for 10 minutes.

Put the drained orzo into a large mixing bowl. Add 2 tbsp of oil from the tomatoes and mix well.

Cook the green beans in boiling water for 6 to 8 minutes or until tender, then drain and put into a bowl of cold water to stop them cooking. Drain well.

Add the green beans to the orzo along with the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Add some more of the tomato oil and season generously with salt and black pepper.

(Original recipe from Feasts by Sabrina Ghayour, Mitchell Beazley, 2017.)

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Salmon Pâté with Lemon & Dill

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , on 19 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Salmon pâté with Sheskin smoked salmon

This simple pâté can be whipped up in just a few minutes. Serve with some toast or breadsticks. We also had some fabulous candied salmon from Sheskin in County Monaghan. It’s amazing!!! See here for more details: http://www.sheskin.ie

Wine Suggestion: we paired this with the Bouvet-Ladubay “Trésor” Sparkling Saumur, a vintage sparkling made from Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay made in oak. Creamy, smooth and deep while remaining fresh and vibrant.

Smoked Salmon Pâté with Lemon & Dill – serves 4

  • 150g smoked salmon, chopped into small pieces
  • 200g tub soft cheese
  • 1 tbsp crème fraîche (optional)
  • juice of half a lemon
  • a small bunch of dill or chives
  • breadsticks or toast, to serve

Put the soft cheese, crème fraîche and lemon juice into a food processor. Season generously with salt and black pepper, then whizz to combine. Add the smoked salmon and pulse a few times. We like a chunky texture but you can keep going until smooth if you prefer.

Stir in the herbs and serve in a bowl with breadsticks or toast on the side.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Fragrant Yellow Rice with Cashews and Peas

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 16 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Fragrant yellow rice with cashews and peas

This fragrant rice is great with curries and it looks nice and bright on the plate.

Fragrant Yellow Rice with Cashew Nuts & Peas – serves 4 to 6

  • 100g cashew nuts, toasted
  • knob of butter
  • 1 small onion, very finely chopped
  • 1 tsp mild curry powder or paste
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 350g basmati rice, well rinsed
  • 50g coconut cream
  • 75g frozen peas

Heat the butter in a pan and sauté the onion for a few minutes or until softened. Stir in the curry powder or paste and turmeric and continue to cook for another minute.

Add the rice to the onions with a good pinch of salt, then pour in the coconut cream and freshly boiled water to cover the rice by about 2 cm, about 600ml. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then turn the heat to very low and simmer gently for another 8 minutes.

Remover the rice from the heat and tip in the peas and cashew nuts, then set aside to steam for another 4 minutes. Fluff up with a fork before serving.

(Original recipe from Nevin Maguire’s Complete Family Cookbook, Gill Books, 2016.)

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Summer Soupe au Pistou

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Soup, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 15 August 2018| 1 Comment »

Summer Soupe au Pistou

A lovely fresh-tasting soup full of veg and basil – smells just like summer.

Summer soupe au pistou – serves 4 to 6

  • 1 leek, chopped
  • 1 large potato, peeled and chopped
  • 1 celery stick, chopped
  • 1.7 litres of chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you prefer)
  • 2 courgettes, chopped
  • 225g green beans, chopped into short lengths
  • 225g drained tinned haricot beans (or use another white bean)
  • 12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 2 bunches of basil
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 125ml extra virgin olive oil
  • grated Parmesan, to serve

Heat a splash of olive oil in a large pot and gently cook the leek, potato and celery for 5 minutes.

Add the chicken stock, season well and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the courgettes, green beans, haricot beans and cherry tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, then add the parsley.

To make the pistou: whizz the basil and garlic with some seasoning in a blender then gradually add the olive oil.

Top the soup with the pistou and Parmesan.

(Original recipe from Food from Plenty by Diana Henry, Mitchell Beazley, 2010.)

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Tomato Tart with Pesto & Marscapone

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 14 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Tomato, pesto & marscapone tart

This couldn’t be easier, especially if you use fresh pesto (you can use the recipe below if you’ve lots of basil growing). Perfect for a late summer lunch.

Wine Suggestion: We find we gravitate to dry rosé quite often during summer as the good ones tend to refresh and revive us in the warmth and also complement summer foods. Today it was the Château St Jacques d’Albas Chapelle en Rose, predominantly Grenache and Mourvedre but with a touch of Roussanne from Minervois. Excellent.

Tomato Tart with Pesto & Mascarpone – serves 4

  • 1 ready-rolled puff pastry sheet
  • 6-8 ripe vine tomatoes, thinly sliced
  • 4 tbsp pesto (see recipe below)
  • 2 tbsp mascarpone
  • green salad leaves, to serve

Heat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6.

Unroll the pastry on to a baking sheet (it usually rolls out easier if you take it out of the fridge for 10 minutes before using). Score a border 1cm from the edge and prick inside the border with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Gently squash down the middle of the pastry. Spread the pesto inside the border, dot over the mascarpone, then layer the tomato on top. Season well and bake for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked and the mascarpone has melted.

Decorate with some fresh basil leaves and serve some dressed salad leaves.

(Original recipe by Paula Stain in BBC Olive Magazine, August 2005.)

To make pesto:

Put a large bunch of fresh basil leaves (minimum 50g) into a food processor with 2 peeled garlic cloves, 25g of toasted pine nuts and 3 tbsp of olive oil. Blend to a paste, then slowly add 125ml through the feeder tube. Transfer to a bowl and fold in 50g of freshly grated Parmesan, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep refrigerated in a clean jam jar covered with a layer of olive oil until needed.

 

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Honey-Glazed Baked Ham

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , on 12 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Honey glazed baked ham

We love baked ham and don’t know why so many save it only for Christmas. It’s great for Sunday lunch with champ, cauliflower cheese and greens and there is always loads leftover for sambos (that’s sandwiches for the non-Irish).

Wine Suggestion: lucky us had a bottle of the Jamet IGP Syrah from the Northern Rhône.  Jamet is a top producer of Côte Rôtie, which Jono’s company imports, and the Syrah is their joyful entry level wine which is allocated in small lots. We get an allocation of 6 bottles which we happily buy each time a shipment arrives, we wish we could get more. Works perfectly with the ham too.

Honey-glazed baked ham – serves 4 to 6

  • 1 x 1.75g gammon joint
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 carrot, roughly chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 12 black peppercorns
  • 200ml freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp light brown sugar

Soak the gammon in cold water overnight, then rinse well and put into a large saucepan. Cover with fresh cold water and add the onion, carrot, bay leaves and peppercorns. Bring to the boil slowly, then cover and simmer very gently for 1½ hours, skim off any white froth from the surface now and then. Remove from the heat and leave to cool in the liquid.

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

Remove the gammon from the liquid and cut away the rind leaving a thin layer of fat. Score the fat in a diamond pattern and put the joint into a small roasting tin, then pour in the orange juice.

Mix the mustard, honey and sugar together and season generously with black pepper, then smear all over the gammon. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until caramelised. Leave to rest in a warm place for at least 20 minutes, then carve.

(Original recipe from ‘Neven Maguire’s Complete Family Cookbook, Gill Books, 2016.)

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Squid Stuffed with Marjoram

Posted in Barbecue, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 11 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Squid stuffed with oregano

There is a huge marjoram bush growing in our garden and it’s a herb we definitely don’t use enough of. Use tender baby squid for this and have it all prepped in advance. This is a super simple starter to throw onto the barbecue as people arrive.

Our fishmonger carries good frozen squid for when there is none available fresh and it works just as well.

Wine Suggestion: a crisp, dry and minerally white with a citrussy lemon character, like Assyrtiko from Greece, would have been our first choice, but as we didn’t have one in the fridge we pulled out a bottle of Zero de Bouvet-Ladubay, a sparkling Saumur made from Chenin Blanc and, like its name suggests, completely dry with zero residual sugar. It worked just as well.

Baby squid with marjoram – serves 4

  • 600g baby squid
  • 2 lemons
  • 3 tbsp marjoram leaves, roughly chopped
  • 2 dried chillies, crumbled (or use chilli flakes)
  • extra virgin olive oil

To prepare the squid you need to pull away the head and tentacles and any pulpy stuff inside the sac. Cut out the hard beak. Wash the tentacles and sac. The recipe suggests leaving the skin and fins on but we usually remove them. Pat dry with paper towels.

Squeeze the juice from 1 of the lemons and cut the other one into quarters.

Season the squid generously inside and out and put 1 tsp of the marjoram into each sac.

Mix the crumbled chilli with 1 tsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp olive oil and the rest of the marjoram.

Cook the squid bodies and tentacles on a hot barbecue and squeeze over a little lemon juice. Turn almost straight away – when the white flesh has charred lightly – and char on the other side. Serve with the sauce and lemon.

(Original recipe from Italian Two Easy by Rose Gray & Ruth Roges, Clarkson Potter, 2006.)

 

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Chickpea & Chard Pork

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 9 August 2018| 2 Comments »

Chickpea & Rainbow Chard Pork

We made this with some fabulous rainbow chard from one of our best friends’ vege patches. So simple and super tasty.

Wine Suggestion: Find a youthful Tempranillo with little or no oak influence, juicy fruit and not too much extraction (tannins). Chill it for 30 minutes and enjoy. Our choice, the Paco Garcia Rioja Seis.

Chickpea & Chard Pork – serves 4

  • 400g pork fillet, seasoned with salt and black pepper
  • 1 x 480g jar of roasted red peppers in brine, drained and diced into 1cm cubes
  • 300g rainbow chard, finely sliced including the stalks
  • 1 heaped tsp of fennel seeds
  • 1 x 660g jar of chickpeas

Heat a large shallow casserole over a high heat. Put 1 tbsp of oil into the pan along with the pork and sear for 5 minutes, turning over halfway (you can cut it in half if it fits easier).

Remove the pork from the pan, then add the fennel seeds, peppers and chard to the fat left behind. Stir fry for a couple of minutes before pouring in the chickpeas and their juice. Season, stir well and bring to the boil. Nestle the pork in to the chickpeas so that it’s touching the bottom of the pan and pour over any juices from the plate. Cover and simmer gently for 12 minutes or until the pork is just cooked through, turn the pork over now and then as it cooks.

Rest for 2 minutes, then slice the pork and check the chickpeas for seasoning. Add a splash of red wine vinegar and a drizzle of oil before serving.

(Original recipe from ‘5 Ingredients’ by Jamie Oliver, Penguin, 2017.)

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Spicy Yoghurt Chicken

Posted in Barbecue, Chicken, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , on 8 August 2018| 3 Comments »

Spicy Yoghurt Chicken

Drumsticks are a regular weeknight dinner in our house and we’re always looking for ideas for what to do with them. You can cook these on the barbecue or in the oven – we find oven first and finished on the barbecue works well.

Wine Suggestion: Our choice of the Domäne Wachau Grüner Veltliner Federspiel was a good match with the spice, chilli and chicken, as well as fresh to suit the warm weather we’re having. Long may it last.

Spicy yoghurt chicken – serves 4

  • 8 skinless chicken drumsticks (the skins are easy to pull off)
  • 142ml pot natural yoghurt
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp ground turmeric

Make a few slashes in the drumsticks with a sharp knife.

Mix the yoghurt and spices together in a large bowl and season with salt and black pepper. Add the drumsticks and massage with the yoghurt mixture, then cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Lift the drumsticks out of the yoghurt and shake off the excess.

Cook on a hot barbecue for 20-25 minutes or roast in the oven for 30 minutes (200C/180C Fan)

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

 

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Turkey Sloppy Joes

Posted in Food, Healthy, tagged , , , , , on 7 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Sloppy Joes

Nothing too glamorous about this dish but it’s really tasty and our 4 year old loved the leftovers with rice and salad. Good value stuff for busy weekdays.

Wine Suggestion: A fun, easy and tasty meal needed something similar on the wine front so we found a bottle of the La Puma Pecorino lurking in our fridge. Italian white’s like this seem to be made for food with a bit of tomato, light spices and, in this case, a touch of sweet and sour.

Turkey Sloppy Joes – serves 6

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small red onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 500g turkey mince
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
  • 125ml cider vinegar
  • 500ml passata
  • 6 soft buns & coleslaw (to serve)

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion and garlic with some seasoning for about 5 minutes. Add the mince and cook until browned. Add the cumin, brown sugar, paprika and vinegar, then keep cooking for another 5 minutes. Add the passata and cook for 10 minutes.

Serve on the buns with a spoon of coleslaw.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Finocchiona Salami with Fresh Borlotti Beans

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Italian, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 4 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Finocchiona salami with fresh Borlotti beans

We grew fresh borlotti beans in our little garden last summer. The beans had a fabulous creamy texture. Serve this as a starter with lots of ciabatta to mop the plates with. Finocchiona is a soft salami from Tuscany with fennel seeds in it.

Wine Suggestion: If you feel like a white choose a Vermentino from the Tuscan coast; we like the Poggio ai Ginepri Toscana Bianco. If red is what you feel like search out a fresh, youthful and fruit-driven Chianti like the Rocca delle Macie Chianti Vernaiolo, a real taste of spring and summer with no oak and vibrantly fresh fruit.

Finocchiona salami with fresh borlotti beans – serves 4 as a starter

  • 1kg fresh borlotti beans, podded
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 plum tomatoes
  • 300g Finocchiona salami, finely sliced

Put the beans into a medium-sized saucepan with the garlic and cover with water. Bring the the boil, then simmer for 25 to 35 minutes or until tender. Drain, season generously, then add the vinegar & 3 tbsp of your best olive oil.

Slice the plum tomatoes in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 3 long strips. Season the tomatoes, then gently fold into the borlotti beans.

Divide the beans between 4 plates and scatter the salami over the top. Serve drizzled with some more oil.

(Original recipe from Italian Two Easy by Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers, Clarkson Potter, 2006.)

 

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Prawn & Spinach Curry

Posted in Asian, Food, Gluten-free, Indian, Prawns, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 30 July 2018| Leave a Comment »

Prawn & Spinach Curry

An easy weeknight curry and perfect for using up that bag of frozen prawns in the freezer. Serve with steamed rice.

Wine Suggestion: As it was a hot night and we needed cooling down, a bottle of beer (Peroni to be precise) from the fridge hit the spot with this. Refreshing and we just like beer with curry.

Prawn & Spinach Curry – serves 4

  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp hot curry paste (we like Patak’s Madras)
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 300ml vegetable stock
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 200g carton creamed coconut
  • 400g raw peeled tiger prawns, defrosted
  • 250g baby spinach leaves
  • large handful of frozen peas
  • bunch of coriander, roughly chopped

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions for about 5 minutes to soften, then stir in the curry paste and fry for another minute. Add the tomatoes, stock, sugar, and coconut cream, then season. Cook gently for 15 minutes until thickened.

Add the prawns and spinach, then cook for a few minutes. Stir in the peas and heat for another few minutes. Sprinkle with coriander and serve with steamed rice.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine, July, 2005)

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Duck & Orange Salad

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 29 July 2018| Leave a Comment »

Duck & Orange Salad

We cooked this while camping in the Dordogne where duck is plentiful and you can buy fabulous fresh walnuts in all the local markets. What a treat!

Wine Suggestion: we can suggest a glass of the walnut liqueur “Liqueur de Noix” for dessert. The Tante Mïon we found from Sarlat was definitely artisanale, but had great character and smoothness. A holiday treat.

Duck & Orange Salad – serves 2

  • 2 x 150g duck breast fillets with skin on
  • 1 baguette
  • 15g shelled unsalted walnuts, chopped
  • 3 oranges or blood oranges
  • 30g watercress

Score the duck skin with a sharp knife, then rub all over with sea salt and black pepper. Place the duck breasts skin side down in a large non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat. Sear for 6 minutes or until the skin is dark golden, then turn over and cook for another 5 minutes (or longer if that’s your preference). Remove to a board to rest but leave the pan on the heat.

Slice 10 thin slices of baguette. Put the slices of bread into the hot pan with the walnuts and toast in the duck fat until golden, then remove and arrange the toasts on a serving plate.

Meanwhile, top and tail the oranges, cut away the peal, then slice finely into rounds (remove any pips as you go).

Finely slice the duck and put the slices on top of the little toasts. Scatter any extra duck and the oranges around, then dress the watercress with any resting juices on the board and sprinkle over. Scatter over the toasted walnuts, season, and serve.

(Original recipe from Jamie Oliver’s ‘5 Ingredients’, Michael Joseph, 2017)

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